Scottish Executive

Community Care

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on caring for young and disabled people in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area in each year from 1997 to 2001 and what percentage each local authority’s expenditure was of its social services budget.

Nicol Stephen: This information is not held centrally. Information on local authority expenditure on children’s services as a whole is given in section 6 of the volumes Rating Review: Actuals of Income and Expenditure ,   published by CIPFA. Copies are available in the Parliament’s reference centre (Bib. no’s 7544 (1996-97), 7545 (1997-98), 7548 (1998-99) and 7547 (1999-2000).

Economy

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has for the future development of the Scottish economy.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Executive is committed to increasing Scotland’s prosperity, and to stimulating high levels of sustainable growth. We are pursuing this through a range of policies and programmes, including those embraced in our strategy for the Enterprise Network, A Smart, Successful Scotland .

Employment

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources were disbursed to Highlands and Islands Enterprise to assist with training and employment opportunities for the 3,500 BARMAC workers made redundant last year.

Ms Wendy Alexander: It estimated that £1.7 million has been made available to support former BARMAC employees, through ongoing support for the oil and gas industry. This includes funding from existing and new allocations for years 2000-02.

  This support includes training for general and specialist engineering skills, Health and Safety, Information Technology, and initiatives to promote employment such as the HIE-OPS database, the Reducing the Impact of Redundancy programme, and the Training for Work, Next Step, and Working Abroad schemes. These programmes have assisted ex-BARMAC employees and ex-subcontractors with some 2,671 job placements, with a number of individuals gaining more than one placement.

  In addition, Employment Service data shows that as at 2 March 2001, the total number of ex-BARMAC and ex-subcontractor employees registered as unemployed and claiming Jobseekers Allowance was 283, and that the cumulative number of job entries was 1,286.

Enterprise

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funds were allocated by Scottish Enterprise to each Local Enterprise Company (LEC), expressed both in monetary and per capita terms for each LEC and as a percentage of each LEC’s overall budget allocation, in each of the last three years.

Ms Wendy Alexander: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. The Scottish Executive does not hold this information centrally.

Ferry Services

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to alter the regulatory framework for ferry services throughout Scotland.

Sarah Boyack: No. The Scottish Executive has no plans to alter the regulatory framework for ferry services throughout Scotland.

Football

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the establishment of football supporters’ trusts following the meeting between the Deputy Minister for Sport, the Arts and Culture and representatives of the Scottish Independent Supporters’ Coalition on 2 April 2001.

Allan Wilson: I understand that three supporters’ trusts have been formed in Scotland and several supporters’ groups are interested in forming trusts. We are discussing with supporters’ group representatives and other interests how the Executive can help responsible supporter groups wishing to have a closer involvement with their clubs.

Football

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects a Scottish division of Supporters Direct or an equivalent body to be established and what financial and legal support it intends to provide for any such body.

Allan Wilson: We are discussing with interested parties how best financial and other support can be given to supporters’ groups interested in forming supporters’ trusts.

Health

Mrs Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are resident in long-stay hospitals, broken down by health board area.

Susan Deacon: Information on the number of patients currently resident in long-stay hospitals is not available centrally.

Learning Disabilities

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is monitoring the implementation of the Partnership in Practice agreements recommended in the report The same as you? and, in particular, how it will monitor how the £36 million allocated to the Challenge Fund over the next three years is spent on helping those with learning disabilities.

Malcolm Chisholm: Partnership in Practice agreements are being monitored for the extent to which they identify clear outputs and outcomes to be achieved locally over the next three years, and for effective use of new and existing resources to achieve the aims of The same as you?

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how people with mental health problems and their carers are involved in the development of local mental health strategies.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Mental Health and Well Being Support Group, which of course includes a user of mental health services and a carer on each visit, raises this important issue in their discussion with the care agencies in each area. The group stress the importance of meaningful and continued engagement at all stages of planning and delivery of services, so that strategies agreed are fit for purpose. Where necessary, recommendations for improvement are made in the outcome reports from the group.

Pensions

Mr John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will intervene to protect the pensions of Highland Council employees who will be working for BEAR (Scotland) Ltd after 1 April 2001.

Sarah Boyack: I refer the member to the response I gave to Bruce Crawford within Jamie McGrigor’s oral question S1O-3171 on 22 March 2001.

Road Accidents

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8650 by Sarah Boyack on 14 August 2000, how many personal injury accidents occurred on the A85 between Lochearnhead and Crianlarich in 2000 and in 2001 to date.

Sarah Boyack: Details of the personal injury accidents which have occurred on the A85 between Lochearnhead and Crianlarich in 2000 and in 2001 up to 27 June is as follows:

  


A85 between Lochearnhead and Crianlarich: Injury Accidents 
  (January 2000 – 27 June 2001) 
  



Year 
  

Fatal 
  

Serious 
  

Slight 
  

Total 
  



2000 
  

2 
  

10 
  

6 
  

18 
  



2001 
  

1 
  

4 
  

2 
  

7 
  



Total 
  

3 
  

14 
  

8 
  

25

Roads

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Office received in 1997 a request from the DETR to suggest projects suitable for European funding through the Essen Trans European Network priority list and, if so, what response was made.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Office received notification from DETR in July and October 1997 that the Commission was seeking bids for 1998 TEN funding. In light of the ongoing Strategic Roads Review at the time, a decision was taken not to apply for that round of TEN funding. The A75, the only road in Scotland to form part of a TEN priority route, already had TEN funded work in progress.

Social Work

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase (a) the number of social workers and (b) the number of applicants for social work diploma courses.

Nicol Stephen: The Regulation of Care Bill, which has now been passed by the Parliament, provides for the establishment of the Scottish Social Services Council (The Council). This body will have powers, delegated by Scottish ministers, to undertake workforce planning for social workers and to promote applications to social work courses.

Special Educational Needs

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children in each local authority area attend specialist language units and what percentage of these children has a Record of Needs.

Nicol Stephen: The information requested is not held centrally.

Sport

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-3427 by Allan Wilson on 17 May 2001, what consideration is being given to developing the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow so that the national athletics teams continue to have adequate year-round training facilities.

Allan Wilson: Any decision on the development of the Kelvin Hall is a matter in the first instance for Glasgow City Council. The council are aware of the requirements of both  sportscotland and the Scottish Athletics Federation. A consultation meeting has taken place and  sportscotland are content with arrangements for future consultation as are the Scottish Athletics Federation.

Student Finance

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to extend further education maintenance allowances.

Ms Wendy Alexander: As of the new academic session we are extending the Education Maintenance Allowance pilot scheme to Glasgow, Dundee and West Dunbartonshire. Together with the existing East Ayrshire pilot, all four pilots are due to run until 2004.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed in the tourism departments of (a) Scottish Enterprise and (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Ms Wendy Alexander: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. I have asked the Chairman of both organisations to write to the member direct. A copy of the replies will be placed in the Parliament’s reference centre.

Tourism

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many visitors salmon and sea trout angling have attracted to Scotland in each of the last 10 years.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Information is not available in the form requested. It is estimated that around 110,000 visitors fish in Scotland every year, generating tourism spend of around £30 million.

Tourism

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will offer support for local events of interest to tourists such as the Montrose Vehicle Extravaganza.

Ms Wendy Alexander: It is a matter for the discretion of local agencies and authorities whether they offer support for local tourism events such as the Montrose Vehicle Extravaganza.